The WhichVoIP.com CallCentric Review

Coming from a respectable background
in telecommunications, the company CallCentric that was founded in 2001,
and this somewhat low-key company is one of the better kept secrets of the VoIP world.

The Good

The CallCentric service
has been designed for ease of use and has abundant plans to
meet the needs of all customers. The service is compatible with just about all of the most popular SIP Compliant Platforms, including: ATA Adaptors, IP Phones, IPPBX Systems (Asterisk, Trixbox, 3CX, etc). Many third party ATAs are
also supported, such as those made by Grandstream, Obihai,
Linksys, Cisco and D-Link. There are also mobile
applications available for Android and iOS devices which is a great way to make and receive calls on the road using your smart phone. It also enables you to make very low cost International calls from your smart phone, with outgoing caller ID that represents your CallCentric number rather than your cell number.

Crisp and clear, land-line quality service. Allows you the freedom to customize your services based on your actual needs/usage patterns, by independently selling
its inbound and outbound calling plans. Products are available under BOTH the Flat-Rate Unlimited and Pay-Per Use service models and the advertised price is what you pay as there are no hidden fees or taxes. Users can also make completely free calls
to other CallCentric users who have active accounts,
regardless of their location.

Knowledgeable customer
support is available 365 days per year and is available to
both free and paid Customers

For those wanting to know if they can port their number over from another provider, CallCentric has a neat Local Number Portability (LNP)
tool that will test your existing number to see if your number can be transferred
over. Extensive footprint for LNP and new DIDs (US50, Canada, Toll-Free, and over 48 international countries).

The Bad

The plans are split by
inbound and outbound calling and most customers need both.
The plan pricing is reasonable though.

The user is responsible for configuring their own device as there is no remote provisioning option currently available.
However, for
the standard home service using a telephone, setting up an ATA is not a difficult process.
To help make this process easy, there are some good
troubleshooting and setup FAQs on the Callcentric website. Also note that you are responsible for
purchasing the ATA device independently (i.e. Bring Your Own
Device - BYOD) as the company does not sell any hardware or
offer it on a "free" lease basis.

Overall Thoughts

CallCentric is a great
way to inexpensively replace a landline and many different
plans are provided in order to meet your calling needs.
Overall the services offer a blend of aggressive pricing and
good quality of service that has resulted in great reviews
from users to date. There is a lot of flexibility in
allowing new users to fully customize their services. This
could however potentially be a little confusing for some new
users.

Note that it is a BYOD
service and the amount of configuration required for the softphones or ATAs
may be
somewhat challenging for some customers, although good supporting documents
are provided by CallCentric.

Callcentric does not claim
to be cheapest service on the market and it does not offer any
annual plan options. The plethora of free value added services
and features along with good customer support, excellent voice
quality, and good user reviews, does however make Callcentric a
strong candidate for anyone that is searching for a new phone
service.

Callcentric Overview

Callcentric received it's first review back in January 2008 on WhichVoIP.
Since then a steady flow of mostly positive reviews have been
continuing, leading to an excellent overall average rating and a very
high recommended percentage score.

...Costs less, does more, sounds better... Simple as that...

All User Reviews (Page 1 of 4)

Callcentric reviews are listed in chronological order.

(5) : Works well with Cisco CME and softphone clients/3G

#40 : FEB 22nd, 2015 : Robert

Recommended:

AVERAGE:

Ordering:

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Quality:

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Value:

I don't even
remember how I found
these guys but I've
been using them for
about 2 years now.
Works fantastic with
Cisco Call Manager
Express on a
2800/3800 series
router, and while I
wouldn't mind
handling my call
treatment and
rejection rules
within my router
config... there's
enough flexibility
with their call
treatments to where
I can do some of my
config on the router
and some of it (more
accessible) on their
home page. Support
requests are
answered quickly.
Don't expect a lot
of help with CME
:grin: but aside
from that always
given accurate and
helpful information.
Cannot beat the free
incoming DID but I
also like using them
to forward my US
cellphone to a local
prepaid number if I'm out
of the country. Only
ever had one service
outage/issue that
was attributable to
DDOS but even that,
they got a handle on
very quickly. For a
softphone highly
recommend Bria (iOS)
or CSIPSimple
(Android) with G729a
codec. You wouldn't
expect this to work
well on 3G in rural
areas but I can
squeak by and make
calls on a half meg
and sometimes less.

(3.6) : A Good Residential Service, Restricted Features.

#39 : FEB 22nd, 2015 : JA

Recommended:

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First I will say
that the process of
signing up for CallCentric is confusing
to say the least
with their varied
programs which seem
to double talk each
other. Once you
understand the
programs it's ok.
The biggest
challenge is
understanding they
consider inbound and
outbound different
services. So you
can get inbound
calling and not have
outbound calling.
They say it's free
to voip providers
but I attempted to
call my GV number and was
told I needed a
outbound calling
plan for traditional
calls. So I have an
inbound plan, an
outbound plan, a
voicemail plan.
(Costs are E911
service and per
minute charges for
outbound calls (at
least on the plan I
enrolled with),
roughly .02 a minute
+ $3 a month for
E911. Setup on the
CallCentric site is
confusing to say the
least. The user is
presented with
options for setting
up extensions, etc,
but after looking an
extension is only
another way of
saying a place for a
DID (direct inward dial).
There is no option
to have the caller
choose an extension
to get transferred,
although it can do a
hunt group (but
without any hold
music or mention of
who you've reached
so it as well is
somewhat OK. It
does have capability
of anonymous call
rejection to a SIT
(de dee DEEE, The
number you have
dialed does not
accept anonymous
calls). Or for
blocked calls it
says the number is
disconnected. I was
using a Cisco SPA112
ATA (approx $50-$60)
to setup a fax
machine and cordless
phone. The fax took
a lot of trial and
error between Cisco
settings, the fax
settings, and
Callcentric
settings. Ended up
that most everything
I need to do is in
my Cisco ATA and it
does more than the
Callcentric
interface is capable
of. Callcentric is
good about having a
lot of user guides
for all common ATA's
and VOIP Phones.
Note that you do
need a SIP phone for
it to work. Also
because of the way
Google does it's
thing they don't recognize it
as a VoIP service.
Finally Callcentric
has a phone app to
allow you to dial
from your mobile
phone using your
account number.
Setup for this is a
nightmare and
hampered by
incomplete
information. After
3 different days
trying to get it to
work, it finally
did. What the
instructions lack
explaining is that
the mobile phone
isn't getting it's
own extension, but
is sharing an
existing extension.

(4.6) : Lots of options and flexible service

#38 : JAN 12th, 2014 : Ivan

Recommended:

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The flexibility on
their services and
pricing is highly
attractive. You
could literally
tailor your best
option according to
your needs, from
free of charge to
Business service you
could always manage
your features even
with limited VOIP
experience or savvy.
Pricing like any
other VOIP provider
is very attractive
but is not the most
competitive across
all options
(specially on
international rates)
but it compensates
with their customer
service, their user
friendly inter-phase
and their many
features (most of
them free of
charge).

(4.9) : First Class Service w/ Excellent Sound

#37 : APR 13th, 2013 : Adam

Recommended:

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I am extremely please with Callcentric sound quality and AMAZING customer
service. I had trouble setting up my IP Phone, but their tech support will
respond to my messages within just minutes. I walked me through all the setup
and now I am up and running.
The sound is nice and clear, so far I haven't had any outage and there are so
many features, I don't think I will even use more than 20%. Overall, I am
extremely please and I highly recommend this company.

(4.7) : CallCentric is great!

#36 : MAR 21st, 2013 : Jeff

Recommended:

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I have used
callcentric for
years for both
business and
personal voip. They
have awesome
customer service
unlike some other
companies whose
customer service
department has
disappeared like
magic (hint hint).

(4.9) : Superior in every way

#33 : FEB 7th, 2013 : Jim

Recommended:

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When my service
bundle pricing
expired from
Verizon, my monthly
pricing with them
skyrocketed:( While
I wanted to find a
more affordable
solution, I didn't
want to make any
sacrifices in terms
of quality or
reliability.
With Callcentric, I
have found
everything I was
looking for and
more. My total
phone service bill
is now under $15 per
month including ALL
taxes and fees. The
line quality rivals
what I was receiving
from Verizon and at
less than half the
price. Callcentric
also offers "Call
Treatments" which
have been an
absolute blessing
when it comes to
blocking unwanted
callers..
With Callcentric, I
choose the exact
hardware I want to
use and the exact
plan that fits my
usage; because their
service is month to
month I have "peace
of mind" that should
my needs change I am
not going to be
penalized.
Admittedly was a bit
hesitant at first to
move to a less
traditional
provider, but now
that I have... I am
never looking back!

(4.6) : Right on Target!

#32 : JAN 28th, 2013 : Raymond

Recommended:

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Followed the
recommendation of
one of my neighbors
and went with
Callcentric for my
home line. I was a
bit hesitant to get
started with VoIP
but from his ringing
endorsement and the
fact that they have
an "A+" rating with
the Better Business
Bureau; I decided to
give them a try.
What a difference!
Was able to get up
and running the same
day I ordered
service. With a
Bring Your Own
Device service the
responsibility of
configuring your
hardware does fall
entirely on the
customer side, but
Callcentric offers
one of the most
largest libraries of
detailed
configuration guides
of any provider
around.
Got my Obi202 up and
running in a matter
of minutes and the
Customer Service
experience is the
exact opposite of
the inept service
that I have been
conditioned to
expect from my years
of being a Verizon
Customer.
Costs less, does
more, sounds
better... Simple as
that.

(4.6) : Crystal Clear Service, an exceptional value

#31 : JAN 24th, 2013 : Hugh

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Switched from Vonage
and never looking
back! More features,
crisper calls,
better support,
smooth and seamless
port-in, need I say
more? Compared to
Vonage I am saving
in the hundreds
annually!
Their customer
support team had got
to be one of the
best in the
industry; the first
person you contact
understands your
concerns and is able
to address them both
quickly and
appropriately.
Worked extensively
with me to help
resolve a problem
that was actually on
my end, and
unrelated to their
service; I'm
Impressed!

Disclaimer: The opinions, views and ratings expressed in these VoIP Reviews are those solely of the reviewer who submitted the review. Whichvoip.com does not necessarily agree with any of the expressed opinions, view or ratings.

WhichVoIP Visitor Comments

#1 : Posted by Susan on May 3rd, 2013:

Been using
Callcentric for a
year or so, works
well and saving me
money!

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